Sites of Nazareth

Nazareth was the childhood home of Christ and home to both Mary and Joseph. A huge church was built on top of Mary's home called the Church of the Annunciation. This is said to be the place where Mary learned of her calling. The next picture is said to have been Joseph's carpentry shop - this is in the basement of another more-reasonably-sized church. The two churches are close enough that basically a courtyard separates them and there you find this statue of Mary there. You can see in the larger version that her hands are a bit rubbed away from everyone reaching up to hold her hand. I liked the detail and symbolism in her crushing the head of the serpent.